Jim was born on July 18,
1946 in Clinton, Iowa where he resided with his
wife and three children for 47 years.After high school, he worked
for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad for 23 years until a back injury
caused him to retire in 1988.Jim moved with his wife and daughter to Lake Havasu City, Arizona in 1993 where he thoroughly
enjoyed living.In his late 40's, he decided to return to
college and graduated from MohaveCommunity College with an Associate of Arts degree focusing
on freshwater biology.Jim was an avid
fisherman and guide and was very proud of his Merchant Marine Captain's
License. Jim was also a shooting enthusiast and a voluntary board member of The
Lake Havasu
City
Sportsman's Club where he would frequently partake and assist in designing
3-gun shooting matches.He also enjoyed
going on desert jeep rides with his wife and family.Jim is survived by his wife, Holly; three
children: Josh (April) Ocker, Jake (Mirna) Ocker and Rachael (Ocker) Ploegman;
his brother Paul (Christine) Ocker; and four grandchildren: Courtnie
McKnight, Charles (C.J.) McKnight, Chase Selvidge,
and Hannah Rose Ocker as well as many nieces and nephews.Jim’s family and many friends miss him
dearly.Services will be held at Lietz-Fraze Funeral Home on Saturday, April 10, 2010, at 4:30 p.m.In
lieu of flowers, Jim's family has asked that a donation be made to The Lake Havasu City Sportsman's Club, c/o Mark Hoffmier, 451 Pueblo Drive, Lake Havasu City,
AZ86406.

Guide service no longer available.

LakeHavasu Characteristics

LOCATION-
An impoundment of the Colorado River, located on the
Arizona-California border, south of Interstate 40.

S1ZE & DEPTH- From
Davis Dam (LakeMohave),
the Colorado river flows southward
about 57 miles to an area known locally as "the sandbar". There,
the lake proper begins, covering about 21,000 surface acres and extending
29miles to Parker Dam. Normal summer surface elevation at Parker Dam is 450 ft.NGVD (National Geodetic Vertical
Datum). During the winter months, normal surface level is about 446
NGVD. Maximum depth in the lower one-third of the lake is about 75 ft.Average lake depth is about 30
ft. The river section,upstream
from the sandbar, offers an average depth of about 12 ft. with scour holes
that extend to about 50 ft. and sand or rock bars just under the surface.

SHORELINE-
Irregular and ranging from mountainous bedrock to gravel and sand
aggregates in the backs of coves, which are continuations of desert washes.
Development is confined to state and city parks, marina and resort
concessionaires and the Chemehuevi Indian
reservation on the California
side.The entire Arizona
side from Parker Dam to Lake Havasu City
is a Bureau of Land Management area with over 100 campsites that are
accessible by boat only.

WATER SOURCE- An
impoundment of the Colorado River, most water enters
the lake from Davis Dam at Laughlin, Nevada.
The only tributary, BillWilliamsRiver,
enters the lake near Parker Dam. Flow of the Bill
Williams is dictated by runoff from the Prescott,
Arizona area and release from Alamo
Dam. Water exits LakeHavasu
through the hydroelectric dam or through either the MetropolitanCanal in California
or the CentralArizonaCanal.

WATER QUALITY- Moderately
fertile with color ranging from greenish clear in the main lake to brownish
in the backs of coves and river backwaters. Secchi
depth, a measure of transparency, ranges from 4ft. (some coves and Mouth of
Bill Williams River) to 24 ft in the main
lake. The water is alkaline with pH ranging from 7.6 to 8.6. Both calcium
and manganese carbonates account for elevated hardness. A thermocline develops during the latter half of summer
at depths from 20 to 35 ft. but the hypolimnion
does not become depleted of dissolved oxygen.2007
update:A recent and undesired
introduction of Quagga mussels is expected to increase the Secchi depth and reduce overall fertility.

BOTTOM COMPOSITION-
Predominately silt (inorganic) over rock. Within the littoral zone, mixes
of muck (organic) and silt occur. Erosion has left areas of round cobble
and broken bedrock along the shoreline.

Much of the original river channel has become homogeneous with the
surrounding bottom within the upper portion of the lake, commonly referred
to as WindsorBasin.Large areas of standing trees are
present.Most were trimmed to 15 ft.
below the 450 NGVD surface. Since 1993, an ongoing, multi-governmental
habitat improvement project continues to place artificial structure at
various lake locations.2007
update:The placement of man-made
fish habitat composed of plastic has ended.Forty-two coves within the system have some amount of that
structure.Present placement
consists of tied bundles composed ofvegetative waste such as palm
fronds. Life expectancy of the bundles is roughly 2 years.

VEGETATION- Common emergent
species are cattail (Typhalatifolia)
and bulrush (Scirpusamericanus).
They are evident in the backs of nearly all coves. Within the lake, the
submergent species spiny naiad (Najas marina) and
sago or small leaf pondweed (Potamogetonpectinatus) form dense beds during late summer with
a deep weedline extending to 15 ft. or more. There is an introduction of
white water lily (Nymphaeaodorata)
located within Bluebird Cove but spreading is slow. 2007 update: The
Bureau of Reclamation has chemically removed the water lily from Bluebird
Cove because it has been deemed a noxious weed. In the river, upstream from
the sandbar, there are limited exhibits of Eurasian water milfoil (Myriophyllumspicatum), curly
leaf pondweed (Potamogetoncrispus),
and water celery (Vallisneria). Milfoil
has also recently become invasive at the mouth of the BillWilliamsRiver.
It is interesting to note that the sandbar is constantly encroaching into
the lake. As new shallow areas are produced, they are rapidly colonized by
the bulrush and new habitat is produced.

2007 update:Fishery populations
are always dynamic.Presently, the
Striper, although still abundant, is not as numerous and the overall
average size is smaller.An
unofficial introduction of Smallmouth Bass at the first of this decade has
moved that species from limited to common.That rapid increase in Smallmouth Bass has placed a burden upon the
Largemouth Bass which are now less common.Rainbow Troutwere listed are
limited based upon a few hatchery fish released at Casino Row in Laughlin,
Nev. that were able to survive and move into the lower river.None have been reported below the I-40
bridge in recent years.

FORAGE- The predominant
forage fish is the Threadfin Shad (Dorosomapetenense), named for LakePeten
in the Yucatan and widely
introduced in the U.S.
Other important species include Red Shiner (Notropislutrensis), Mosquitofish(Gambusiaaffinis), and
fathead minnow (pimephalespromelas).
As with D. petenense, all species are nonindigenous. Crayfish, insect larvae, and
young-of-the-year of various fish species are also important forage.2007 update:This past winter was the coldest in 13
years.Water temperatures were in
the high 30’s for over 15 consecutive days and stressed the Shad
population.Numbers of available
spawning adults were reduced this spring but disregarding water quality changes
and pollutants, the prolific species can quickly recover.

Lou Bellwith his 32 lb. Striper

COMMENT- The Striped Bass
is the dominant predator within the lake and is also the most sought after
sport fish. Commonly known as Striper, they can be caught throughout the
year, but best fishing locations change with the seasons and with water
temperature. The overall average size is from 2.5 to 5 lbs. but a few
individuals in the 20 to 30 lb. range are harvested every year. Fish from 8
to 10 lbs. or a 10-fish daily limit weighing more than 50 lbs. are worthy
of photos and "braggin’ rights".

Steve fast with a 13 lb. Striper

Ron Paliwoda with a 21½ pounder

Cliff Fincher with a 13 pounder

Jeff Hughes, Bryon & Tanner Barnes with a 15 lb. Flathead

The Largemouth Bass is sufficient to support tournaments nearly every
weekend from September through May. The overall average size of the Bass is
about 2 lbs. but fish from 4.5 to 5.5 lbs. are not uncommon. The population
seems to be increasing, probably due to a compilation of causes including
heavily practiced catch-and-release angling, an increase in aquatic
vegetation, introduction of massive amounts of man-made habitat, abundant
(although not ideally diverse) forage, and care of tournament caught fish.
The summer months also offer good to excellent
Bass fishing, but air temperatures that can exceed 115 degrees during the
afternoon are difficult for tournament fishing. Summer fishing is confined
to the morning hours or to late evening. The Havasu Bass Club owns
and operates a live release boat to transport tournament fish away from the
weigh-in site, thereby virtually eliminating unrestrained harvesting after
tournaments. The Smallmouth Bass population has experienced a boom
during the past couple of years adding a needed resource for tournament
anglers.2007 update:Largemouth and Smallmouth bass together
support tournaments.Smallmouth
numbers are greatly increasing while Largemouth numbers are falling off.Recently, catches have included a half
dozen Largemouth Bass over 7 lbs. with a couple over 9 lbs.There have been a couple of Smallmouth
Bass recorded which weighed over 6 lbs.The Havasu Bass Club no longer operates a live release boat.

Channel Catfish are abundant and average 2 to 4 lbs. Areas of
shallow clear water can afford observation of schools of fish containing 20
to 50 individuals in a variety of sizes cruising
the weed beds. I have landed clients fish up to 23 lbs.
Flathead Catfish grow to monstrous sizes in this system. My personal
largest fish to date is 44 lbs. Only a limited number of anglers fish
specifically for catfish. Most are caught incidentally to other
angling. Black Crappie numbers are limited and the individuals taken
are often from 1.5 to 3 lbs. During the 70’s, Lake Havasu was
noted as an excellent crappie lake but severe over-harvesting and lack of
concealing habitat have all but ruined the fishery. Presently, fair
Crappie fishing can only be found at 3 or 4 small, isolated
locations. All anglers are hoping that new and restrictive creel
limits and the introduction of vital habitat are about to turn the Crappie
population around. The lake contains Bluegill and some very large
Redear Sunfish, many are well over a pound.
The population as a whole seems healthy. The current Arizona
state record Redear Sunfish weighing 3 lbs. 8 oz., was caught here.2007 update:The Crappie population has not
changed.It is still very
limited.

Copyright 1997 and 2004, Jim Ocker, All rights reserved. Use data for
personal and not-for-profit reasons without further authority, provided
full credit for authorship observed. All commercial usage requires prior
permission from the author.